Administration is Fulfilling 97% of Promises Made During 2005 Campaign

Major Gains on Promises that are Fully or
Substantially Implemented

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today
released his fourth Campaign Accountability Report, which shows major progress
has been made in implementing the 2005 campaign promises since the last report
was issued in 2007. Today, 97 percent of the 100 campaign promises the Mayor
made during the 2005 campaign are either listed as done or are currently being
implemented. Compared to the last report, there have been major gains on
promises that are fully or substantially implemented, up to 67 percent today
from 38 percent in 2007.The 2001
Campaign Accountability Report was also updated. The reports were released at
the Goodhue Camp on Staten
Island, and the Mayor highlighted a promise he made to expand the
Out-of-School Time system and increase the number of young people served. Since
the 2005-2006 school year, the Out-of-School Time budget has increased from $47
million to $110.7 million, with enrollments increasing from 59,000 to a
projected 75,000 students in the 2009-2010 school year.

“The public has a right to expect
that candidates for public office keep the promises they make during campaigns,”
said Mayor Bloomberg. “We set ambitious goals in 2005 and I am happy to report
that we are coming through on virtually all of them. All too often, individuals
running for office make pledges that they have no intention of following through
on. That is not the case for our Administration.For us, accountability and transparency
are not buzz-words, they are the cornerstone of our plan to create an open,
accessible, and effective government.”

The Campaign Accountability Report
includes promises on a wide variety of topics that reach across almost all
agencies of City government – from expanding social service programs, to growing
our local economy and expanding affordable housing initiatives. Posted on the
City’s website at www.nyc.gov, the report gives New Yorkers a chance to review the
progress made on each promise.

Since the last Campaign
Accountability Report was issued in May 2007, the City has nearly doubled the
number of promises from the 2005 campaign that are fully implemented – from 24
percent in 2007 to 44 percent in 2009. Examples of newly implemented 2005
promises include: rezoning Jamaica and Willets Point, projects that will boost
economic activity for generations to come; adding social service information and
referral service to 311; and finding innovative ways to improve our public
education system, such as doubling the number of charters schools and surpassing
the promise to open more than 100 new small schools.

In the past two years, the number of
proposals that have yet to be fully or substantially implemented has dropped
from 58 percent to 32 percent. The Bloomberg Administration is working to
complete several proposals that are already making a substantial difference in
the lives of New Yorkers, such as its ambitious goal of providing electronic
medical records to 3,000 doctors. So far, more than 1,100 primary care providers
serving 1 million patients are already using the system – an achievement that
has made New York City a national leader in the field.

For the current 2005 update, no
promise remains undone. All have either been acted upon or reconsidered. Though
three promises have been reconsidered, the stated goal behind each has been
achieved through other means. For example, plans to expand the Gun Court into
Manhattan were dropped largely because the City was able to implement tougher
sentences for illegal guns through a new State law, passed in Albany at the
City’s request, to require a minimum 3 ½ year sentence for carrying a loaded
illegal handgun.

The report also re-examined the 168
promises made during the 2001 campaign that had not yet been fully implemented
at the time of the last accountability report. Since then, the percentage of
proposals that have been fully or substantially implemented rose from 67.5
percent to 79 percent. Examples of proposals that were completed since the last
report include instituting a performance-based pay pilot program in City schools
and implementing a Human Resources Administration program to aggressively
monitor work retention rates for former welfare recipients to see which programs
work best.

Of note in the 2001 report, the City
recommended the Unincorporated Business Tax be eliminated. Since 2007, the
Administration has taken actions that will save UBT taxpayers over $69 million.
Last week, Albany enacted our proposed tax reform has
substantially reduced or eliminated the Unincorporated Business Tax burden for
thousands of small businesses and freelancers.

The City has also found new ways to
help emerging industries in response to the financial crisis. The City’s
Economic Development Corporation has established the Entrepreneurial Investment
Fund, which will direct $3 million to create several investment funds totaling
between $9 million and $10 million that will make angel investments of $20,000
to $250,000 to New York City-based start-up companies.

The report breaks down the proposals
into four categories (see chart): Done/ Done*, Launched, Not Done, and
Reconsidered. The report found that 44 proposals from the 2005 campaign have
been “Done,” meaning the proposal has been implemented; 23 have been classified
as “Done*,” meaning the proposal has been substantially implemented and work
continues; and 30 have been “Launched,” meaning action has been taken to
implement the proposal. There are no longer any promises listed as “Not Done.”
And three proposals have been “Reconsidered,” meaning the Administration has
either decided not to implement the proposal, has taken actions contrary to the
promise or proposal, or has found an alternative method to meet the goal of the
proposal.

For the 2001 campaign, the report
found that 253 proposals have been “Done,” meaning the proposal has been
implemented; 50 have been classified as “Done*,” meaning the proposal has been
substantially implemented and work continues; 35 have been “Launched,” meaning
action has been taken to implement the proposal. One promise has been listed as
“Not Done,” and 43 have been “Reconsidered,” meaning the administration has
either decided not to implement the proposal, or has found an alternative method
to meet the goal of the proposal. Seven of those reconsidered were previously
identified as fulfilled, lowering the percentage of fulfilled promises from 89.9
percent in 2007 to 88.5 percent in 2009.